Hi David, i have noticed how close the courtyard marriott is to the south terminal, you pass it as you enter the parking express car park. the bus you catch would take you to the south terminal and then go onto the north terminal , the transfer buses will go to both terminals as people staying at any airport hotel could be departing from either terminal.
And at £2.50 , the trip from the Courtyard to the South would work out about £10 a mile!!!

andy66 is right but as you are departing from the North Terminal, I'd personally pay £2.50 to be driven there rather than walk to south terminal (8 minutes) then board the airport transfer bus for the 5 minute journey to north terminal (the train shuttle is out of action).

Thanks a lot Andy and Traveller, much appreciated your help.

Thank You

Easyjet targets more charter routes from Gatwick ... click here for more details in our Easyjet topic.

David

Hi, I was thinking of staying at the Sofitel north terminal for an early morning flight, I can get a 3 course dinner bed and breakfast (we might leave too early for breakfast)or room only but is there anywhere else at north terminal around 8pm that we could get a meal from as we will be without a car.Many thanks Maggie

Try the Mercure Hotel just 5 minutes from airport then over the road theres a great pub you can walk to called 6 bells good food. We stayed at Sofitel last year was very nice but pricey cheapest glass of wine £6.50.

http://www.mercure.com/gb/home/index.shtml or try http://www.holidayextras.co.uk/

Pub http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/yeoldesixbellshorley/

Hi Maggie, on the airport website it shows Joes Kitchen and the Globe at the North but they close at 8pm , even when we've stayed at the Sofitel we have gone over to the South which at the moment is a 5 to 6 min bus transfer (free) from the front of the terminals (the transit train is being refurbed) and gone to Frankie and Bennys which is good , although they say that closes at 9pm !! we've always gone in early..ish , if i stayed til 9 I'd be suffering from a Pinot Grigio induced hangover for the flight.
However there is the Village Inn (wetherspoons) open til 11pm also in the South.

The Sofitel is really nice and comfortable and obviously convenient for an early flight , if you decide to book for there i have a new promo code if you book through FHR , it is HOTEL115 and saves £10 !!! enough for a bottle of Pinot in F&B

Thanks for the replys they were very helpful,I did find it was dearer to book on line (their own site) than if you phoned them direct.Will have to decide whether to take room only£76 and go to Whetherspoons or dinner bed and breakfast at £133.Our flight leaves at 6.30am and hope to check in the night before so would think we would only have to be there an hour before at 5.30am.I believe its only a few minutes from the hotel connected by a walkway, is that correct.Will be flying with easyjet to Malta. Maggie

Hi Maggie, twilight check-in is really handy as you can then go straight to security , we did this flying with thomsons last november.
We stayed in the sofitel room only , never had breakfast there, i'm ok with a costa and cake ! we have b&b if we fly from the south usuing the hilton.
Last november they were working on the transit reception area and the walkway from the sofitel was closed, this meant going out into the car park area and crossing the road and into the front of the terminal , its all under cover but a bit colder! they have probably finished that part by now ?? its a 2 to 3 min walk max.

As regards the prices will they be serving breakfast at 5 to 5.30 ? if not you won't be getting your moneys worth, and i doubt you will spend £57 in wetherspoons.

Room only at 76 sounds quite good , i need to book a night there for a holiday in june.
enjoy your hol.

Andy66, Just booked room only at £76 won't get a refund if we don't turn up,but thats the chance you take.As you said I don't think we'll spend £57 in Weaterspoons but at least we'll get something to tied us over.Thanks for all the help Maggie

Hi Maggie, did you book direct with sofitel to get that price? because i'm looking to book a midweek night in june and its coming up for quite a bit more than that even with discount codes!! ideally i like to stay at the north as we're flying out there with thomsons , i could book the hilton b&b as i've just managed to nab £60 of vouchers off my brother and they need to be used, if i can get the sofitel at a good price i'll use the vouchers for another stay.
PS, the sofitel has really nice comfortable beds.

Hi Andy, Yes I booked direct with hotel over the phone, I rang the 087 number from their website and asked for the direct number for the Gatwick hotel,I think it was about £20 cheaper than booking with their own website.Am looking forward to our stay there.Maggie

staying at gatwick hilton the night before we fly off in april, paid a january bargin price with full english the next morning, but does anyone else know what the price of dinners and drinks are like etc ?

Wiggleworth, If the Hilton at Stansted is anything to go a pot of tea for two £6, Restuarant main courses about £16, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Gatwick and Two Main courses and the cheapest bottle of wine £40.85.

thanks, thought so lol

told the wife that we will be having dinner and few beers in one of the airport teminal restarants instead

Hi Wiggleworth, you could always try contacting hilton (0870 5 90 90 90) to see what price they could offer to upgrade your package to include a dinner in the buffet restaurant. on their website when choosing packages and promotions it shows a £20 increase if selecting dinner , which is quite good at a tenner each , but you do have to add drinks.
the alternative is using the restaurants in the terminal which to cut to the chase is the Village Inn (wetherspoons) or Frankies and Bennys, save a bit of room for the breakfast though!! i think the hilton breakfasts are very good , their b&b packages usually deter me from going elsewhere.

thank andy, will give em a call, did get a bargin only paid 70 for the night price has gone right back up now just for the room

Good evening everyone!

My elderly parents are travelling out tomorrow morning from Gatwick and require special assistance i.e. getting from departures (Nth Terminal) to boarding gate and pre-boarding. Thomson Airways are already aware of this but last year we were left waiting right up to, and beyond, the last call for boarding the flight, before anyone came to help us despite waiting in the immediate vicinity of the Special Assistance desk..........they just kept telling us that someone would be along asap..........and we thought that the flight would leave without us!! In the end we were the last to board and were left feeling hugely embarrassed!!

What can we do to avoid this happening again please? Gatwick's website suggests also calling the G4S company as they organise the Special Assistance........has anyone heard about this at all?

Thanks!

Andy

mrtiggles,

There isn't a lot you can do really, you just have to go along with the service provided. You could always discuss things with them in advance of boarding to ensure things so smoothly and to minimise any distress. It also depends on how busy they are.

Darren